Love At Second Sight
by NotDoneAbusingYou
Summary: Bash had left Catherine on the floor with his sword at her feet, never believing he would return to that place again. But after heading to Scotland with Mary and discovering the magic that he possessed, what he believed, may be about to change. Will his newfound powers lead him back to French court after all?
1. Until it's Gone

It had been about six months since Mary and Bash had left France, bound for Scotland. Mary had been learning to rule by herself, Bash had located more druids to help him discover more about the magic that he possessed, and Catherine had been left at French court alone to struggle against her own children for power. The fact that Narcisse had returned to France as Lord Chancellor wasn't helping matters any. Now he held more power than she did once again and she was kicking herself for giving him the position in the first place. The fact that he had returned with her grandson, John, was small consolation. Though she was thrilled that she at least had one member of her family who didn't hate her...yet. She was sure he would grow to one day. Everyone else did. Mary was the only one who didn't, and she was so far away now. She never thought she'd miss her so much.

She was feeling like she was wading through mud on daily basis. Struggling to get somewhere, but ultimately not accomplishing anything more than causing herself more aggravation. She didn't wear defeat well.

It had been a particularly rough couple of weeks. They had discovered another new group of enemies to deal with. A band of rebels, bent on tearing the Valois off the throne. They called themselves 'Brigade de la Mort' though they had taken to simply calling them 'The Brigade'. As usual, Charles had been refusing to accept her council. Instead taking advice from anyone and everyone else. Narcisse had offered to help her several time, but she declined his offers, still not wanting to trust him. Something did seem different about him since he'd lost Lola to the executioner's block, but she wasn't ready to risk it. She'd tried everything she could to get her power back, even trying to coax Nostradamus into returning to court, but nothing worked. She was afraid she would have to do something she didn't like once again in order to be regent once more. She couldn't let Charles continue on the path he was on. He'd already made several mistakes, luckily none of which could destroy them...yet. She knew if he made a big enough mistake, the council might reverse their decision about declaring him of age, but that was tricky business, getting him to make a mistake big enough to get the regency back, but not big enough to cause their ruin. It was the balancing act from hell. One small misstep, and she could get them all killed. Not that Charles wasn't doing a good enough job of that already. He created a new enemy on almost a daily basis.

Now was a time when she could really use Bash's help. That bastard. In more ways than one. She couldn't entirely blame him she supposed, and wanting revenge on her was fair...but leaving that letter for Charles is what started this whole mess in the first place. Now the kingdom was on the verge of collapse, because of his selfish need to hurt her. Even so, if he were here, he'd probably be the only person who could help her, because he was the only person in the world, aside from herself and Mary, who wanted Charles on that throne.

She was in her room looking at maps and letters and trying to strategize. Charles was starting to catch on to some of her tricks so this time it needed to be good. If she didn't get it right, she feared he would kick her out of the castle and she would loose any chance she had at getting things back the way they should be. She was also trying to work on new poisons...just in case she had to take care of some lose ends. That's what she was doing when there was a knock on the door. A guard entered.

"Greer of Kinross to see you your grace." he said.

"Greer? What on earth could she want? I thought she had gone away to the country." she asked.

"She didn't say your grace, only that it was urgent and that she was desperate for an audience with you." he said. Catherine was curious. Not only was it odd that she was back, but she couldn't imagine why in the world she wold want to see her of all people.

"Alright. Let her in." she said. Greer entered, holding a baby in her arms and looking disheveled, as though she hadn't slept in days.

"Thank you for seeing me your majesty and I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I...I didn't know where else to go." she said nervously.

"Where is your husband, Lord Castleroy? Last I heard, Mary gave you false papers to go start a new life." she asked, gesturing for her to sit.

"That's sort of why I'm here." she said as the baby started to fuss. "We seemed to be doing alright for awhile, until someone discovered that we were lying. They came for us. Angry Catholics calling us heretics. Aloysius was killed. We barely escaped with our lives."

"That's awful. I'm sorry for your loss, but that doesn't explain why you're here." she said.

"I tried to go back to my brothel, but it was gone. I lost everything. I was hoping you could let me stay here...just for awhile...and not for free of course. I would work for it. In the kitchen or as a servant or ladies maid...whatever you need. Just until I save enough money to get to Scotland and find sanctuary with Mary." she plead. Catherine sat back in her chair, hand to her chin, and thought a moment.

"You may stay...for two days." she said as she stood and crossed the room and opened a cabinet.

"Two days? Well, that's not enough time to..." she began as she turned.

"Two days is when the next boat leaves for Scotland." she interrupted.

"But I can't afford..." Catherine interrupted her once more by dropping a sack of coins on the desk in front of her.

"You can now." she said. Greer looked inside.

"I don't understand. Why would you just give this to me?" Greer paused and then added. "Not that I'm not grateful of course."

"Mary is alone in Scotland. She has no one to trust. She needs a friend. A confidant. She needs you, as you are the only one she has left." Catherine said.

"I'm not the only one. I'm sure Lola will join her eventually." She said.

"Oh dear, you don't know." Catherine realized.

"Know what?" Greer asked with a furrowed brow.

"I really should be the one breaking this news to you." Catherine pursed her lips. "I'm afraid your friend Lola...is dead."

"What? No. There must be some mistake." Greer realizes there was no mistake from Catherine's expression. "But how? Why?"

"According to what I've been told, someone figured out Mary's code. They sent Lola a letter asking her to assassinate Elizabeth. Lola believed it and she attempted to do as it asked. She was executed. I'm terribly sorry." Catherine explained.

"You don't care, you hated Lola." Greer said through tears.

"That's true. I wanted her gone. But I never wished her dead. I would never do that to my grandson." She said.

"Oh God. John. Is he alright? Does Elizabeth have him?" She asked in a panic.

"John is fine. He's here actually. Narcisse returned from England with him. He'd gone there to try and break Lola out. It didn't work. That's how I knew about Lola. Narcisse found out about the letter when he made a stop in Scotland on the way back to yell at Mary for it, only to find out she hadn't written it." She explained further.

"I can't believe she's gone." Greer said. Catherine felt bad for her, but the last thing she wanted to do was discuss Lola, so she ignored her comment.

"There is some I'd like you to do for me though." She told her.

"With all do respect, I'd rather not get wrapped up in any of your schemes." She said.

"There's no scheme. I simply want you to take something to Mary for me. You see her boat crashed on the way home and she lost nearly everything, including the clothes I gifted her before she left. So I'd like to make sure she has something...from me." Catherine said. She took a box from her drawer and handed it to Greer. "Be very careful with this. Don't get it stolen." Greer opened the box and her eyes grew wide.

"These pearls must cost a fortune." She said.

"They were given to Mary upon her wedding to Francis, she returned them with the crown jewels, but these were never owned by the crown. They were mine. Had I realized she returned them, I would have told her to keep them anyway. I want her to have them now." Catherine told her.

"I don't know if I feel safe traveling with something worth so much." Greer said.

"It will be fine. Wear them under your dress. No one will know you even have them. They'll never expect anyone but a royal to have something so valuable." Catherine said.

"Alright I'll do it." Greer accepted.

"Good. In the mean time, no one has taken up your old room yet. You may stay there until your boat leaves." She offered.

"Thank you." Greer said as she stood. "I greatly appreciate all of this." She walked to the door and then stopped and turned back a moment. "You really do care about Mary after all don't you?"

She didn't wait for an answer. She closed the door behind her.

"Yes I do." Catherine answered to no one.


	2. When It's All Over

He could smell it. The flames were everywhere. They crackled and snapped as he looked around frantically. He couldn't tell where he was. All he could see was shades of orange and yellow flickering. The heat was unbearable. He coughed into his sleeve as he started moving down, what he assumed was a hallway, still looking around, trying to find his way out. Then he saw her. It was Mary, lying on the ground. He couldn't tell if she was breathing. He ran toward her.

"Mary! Mary!" Bash yelled and then his voice softened. "Mary...Mary...Mar.."...

Bash shot up from the cot he'd been laying in. It was a dream...no...it was a vision. Over the last few months he'd come to be able to tell the difference. They didn't feel the same. The sweat dripped from his brow and he wiped it off. He picked up a small bowl filled with water and splashed some on his face and neck, then he put on his shirt and walked outside. He made his way over to another tent and entered it. There was a druid mixing some concoction in a bowl.

"You had the vision again didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes, but it was longer this time. I saw someone in the flames." Bash told him.

"I take it you you be leaving us now young Sebastian." the druid said.

"I need to stop this vision from happening. I'll be back. I still have much to learn." he said.

"You do at that, but you will not be back. Of this I'm sure. I've had a vision of my own." the druid told him.

"But I have to. How else will I learn to use my gift?" Bash said.

"You will find a way, and this will help you." the druid handed him a book. "I started writing down some lessons in this book the day I first saw your departure. It's not everything you will need, but I hope it will be of some help to you when you need it most. Don't read it all at once."

Bash took the book and stared at it. He knew he wasn't ready, but he also knew he couldn't just let Mary die. He had to go back.

"Thank you. Thank you for everything. I won't forget you." Bash said as he left the tent. He packed his things quickly and rode for the castle as fast as his horse would carry him.

When he arrived at the castle, Mary was outside in the courtyard and she saw him as he was riding up.

"Bash. You're here." she said with a smile, but them noticed his expression. "Is something wrong? What's happened?"

"I think we should speak in private." he said. They went to her room and closed the door.

"Bash, what's going on?" Mary asked.

"I've been with the druids learning how to use my gift. I haven't really gotten the hang of it entirely yet, but I have started to get visions, but not full ones. They are only bits and pieces, sometimes they don't even make any sense but..." Bash said as he struggled to explain to her.

"Bash, did you see something bad? Is that why you're here?" she asked.

"I, I saw you. You were in a fire. Lying there. I don't know if you were dead or just unconscious, but it didn't look good. The fire was out of control." he told her.

"Was the fire here at the castle?" she asked.

"I don't know." he said.

"Was anyone else there?"

"I don't know."

"When..."

"I don't know, I don't know. You know as much as me. That's all I saw." he said.

"I'm not sure how we are supposed to stop something if we don't know what we are trying to stop. Are you sure this was a vision and not just a dream?"

"I'm positive."

"Well, there's nothing we can do until we know more. I'll make sure the guards are on high alert for anything out of the ordinary for the time being. You should stay here and keep me apprised of anything new you see regarding this. I no longer take any kind of vision lightly." she said, exchanging a knowing look with him as he noticed the sword Francis had made her sitting on the mantle. He walked over and ran a finger over it. He got a strange chill and a flash of light behind his eyes and then it was gone.

"Bash are you alright?" Mary asked, with concern in her tone.

"I'm, I'm fine." he lied.

Later that night, the vision returned. He was in the fire again, and he saw Mary. He ran toward her and kneeled down next to her. When he did, he saw something else out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, it was another body. He stood to get a better look. It was Charles, and next to him he saw Claude. His breath caught in his throat and he started to panic. He turned and he saw Elizabeth and Margot.

"Oh God." he said, and backed up, tripping over something. It was Henry and Hercule.

"No. No." he breathed. It was all of them. Every last one of his siblings lay dead at his feet, burning. It was only then that he could make out the H shaped tiles on the floor.

"NO!" he screamed as he woke from his sleep. When he looked out the window he could see it was morning already. He dressed and rushed to Mary's room. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." he heard her say, and he swung open the door, then slammed it behind him.

"I saw more. The fire. It wasn't here. It was at French court, and it wasn't just you, it was my brother's and sisters too, but that doesn't make any sense. Why would you be in France?" he said breathing hard from running. Mary looked as if she already knew the answer. "What? What is it?" she picked up a piece of paper off the desk and handed it to him.

"Claude's getting married?" he asked.

"To the Duke of Lorraine. Catherine sent me this invitation to the wedding. I just received it yesterday before you got here." she said.

"You were planning on going?" he said.

"I was hoping to, if I could find a safe route there and back, but considering how hard it was to get here in the first place...obviously there's no way I'm going now, but I'm sure you can give Claude my well wishes when you get there." she said.

"When I get there? I'm not going back." he said.

"What do you mean you're not going back? You have to. Your brothers and sisters...Catherine..." she started.

"Just, just write a letter or something. I don't need to be there." he argued.

"A letter isn't good enough. Bash, this is your family, don't you want to save them?" she questioned.

"I'm sure Catherine would do whatever she must to keep it from happening. Your word will be enough for her. I'm not going back." he exclaimed.

"Why are you being this way? You should do everything possible to save them. Why would you even take the risk. You...wait. You changed your mind rather quickly the day I left. I was so grateful to have a friendly face along I didn't even question...did something happen?" she asked. She watched his face changed and knew she'd struck a nerve. "It did didn't it? What is it? What could possibly be so terrible that you would risk your family's lives because of it?"

"It doesn't matter." he said, not wanting to give her the details.

"It does. Tell me." she said sternly.

"Let's just say, Catherine would not be so grateful for my help." he said.

"What did you do?" she asked. He said nothing. "What did you do?!"

"Me? You ask what i did? We are talking about Catherine and you accuse me and not her?" he said.

"If it was her that did wrong, you wouldn't be unwelcome." she said.

"She pushed me to it. What she did..." he started.

"What? What happened? I demand you tell me." she ordered.

"Where on the long list of offenses would you like me to start?" he said sternly. "How about we start with the fact that she was sleeping with a serial murderer and she knew all about it and she protected him."

"Wait, what? Serial murderer?" Mary questioned.

"You remember the heart killer I was hunting." he said.

"She was sleeping with the butcher?" Mary asked, confused.

"No. The butcher was innocent and Catherine was aware when she hung him, because she was protecting the real killer, Christophe, her pet fire tender turned king's guard."

"No. Catherine has done awful things, but they have always been to protect her family. What reason would she have for this?"

"To cover for another sin. Because Christophe knew her secret and was blackmailing her with it."

"What secret?"

"Claude. That beating she took on her wedding night, Catherine paid the Duke to do it. It was all part of her plan to get the regency back." his tone got more agitated as he explained. Mary oddly however, didn't look as angry as Bash had thought. "Well, none of this upsets you?"

"The gold..." she began as she realized. "Bash, you don't understand what Narcisse keeping the regency could have meant, if she did do this, she probably felt there was no other way. She would never want to hurt Claude. I know that. You know that."

"Yes. There were a lot of things I never thought she'd stoop to, but I was wrong. She has proved she is the evil witch my mother always told me she was. My mother, by the way, is dead. She killed her."

"You must be mistaken. What reason would she have to kill your mother now? She's no longer any threat to her." Mary said. Bash looked away.

"She did it alright. She admitted it. She had no remorse at all, even when she looked me dead int the eye and told me how she threw her body in the sea. And that is why I put my hands on her throat and tried to squeeze the life from her as she did my mother."

"Bash! No. Are you out of your mind? After all I went through to save her you...you go and..." she petered off and tried to quell her temper. Before yelling at Bash she needed to know the truth. She needed to be sure she was yelling at him for good reason. "Two things you can always be sure about with Catherine are that she always owns up to her wrong doings when questioned and she never kills without reason. Why did she kill her? Why did she kill your mother?" Bash didn't answer. "Sebastian!"

"She murdered her daughters." he said quietly.

"The twins? I thought the nanny..."

"The nanny was just a scapegoat. My mother opened the windows that night." he looked away. Mary tried to absorb all of this.

"And you...you think that Catherine is at fault for that? The other things aside, Catherine did nothing wrong. If your mother did what you say, then she deserved what she got." Mary said through gritted teeth. "How could you side with your mother on this? They were your sisters. Innocent children who never hurt anyone. You have gone on about Catherine's wrongdoings, but nothing she has ever done, compares to the evil of murdering an infant in their sleep."

"She had no right to take justice into her own hands. I had the right to bury my mother."

"What she did is no different than what I did to avenge Francis. Am I at fault too? Do I deserve to die?"

"It's not the same."

"It is! You're only mad at Catherine for it because you can't accept the fact that your own mother has committed such an atrocity." Mary scolded. "You have to make this right. Catherine can be more forgiving than you think. Considering the circumstances she would probably..."

"That's not all I did." He interjected.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The letter Christophe had written detailing her crimes. I gave it to Charles and Claude before I left." He confessed.

"That's why she isn't regent anymore? Because of you?" She questioned. He nodded. "Do you understand what you've done? Charles is too young to rule alone. He has no idea what he's doing. I've already been hearing news of his mistakes. Who knows what else he's done that we haven't heard of. You may have destroyed France with one letter. Was your vengeance worth that? Catherine may not be perfect, but she is a good ruler, and a better politician than most men."

"So what? She gets a free pass to do whatever she likes no matter how terrible?" He asked.

"All rulers must do terrible things for the greater good. Especially women, because even as queens, we have no real power. I've learned that lesson too many times. The hard way."

"It has nothing to do with the greater good. Catherine is selfish and power hungry. She doesn't care about anyone but herself." Bash said, and was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Your majesty, there is a woman here to see you. She says she's your friend. A Lady Greer." Said a guard.

"What? Greer? How is she here? Let her in please." Mary said. After a moment Greer entered. "My god it's really you." She hugged her. "What are you doing here?"

"My husband was killed. I didn't know what to do so I went to the castle for help. I was prepared to work for years to earn my boat fair here, but Catherine just gave it to me." She said and pulled a box out of the bag in her hands. "She also gave me this to bring to you. She said she wanted you to have something from her." Mary opened it to see the pearls Catherine had sent. A small smile formed at the sight of them. And she turned to face Bash.

"You were saying?" Then she turned back to Greer. "I'm overjoyed to see you, and we will have much talking to do, but I need a moment with Bash please."

"Of course." She said.

"Guard. Please find my friend our best available room to stay in." Mary said and ushered her out of the room. She looked down at the pearls, then back up at Bash. "You will go back. You will help fix this. If it can even be fixed."

"No. I will not." He said.

"You will go back, or I will banish you from Scotland." She said sternly.

"You wouldn't."

"I would, and I will. You will not just stand by and watch as France falls and your siblings die. I won't allow it. They are your family, and as far as I am concerned they are still my family too. I've already lost enough loved ones, I won't lose them too." She gave him one last look and left the room. He sighed and walked over to the sword on the mantle.

"What do I do little brother?" He said as he ran a finger over it as he had the day before. He got another flash, but this time he could see Francis.

"Bash." He heard Francis say in a whisper. He shook his head and he touched it again.

"You...you...have...go...please...back... help...mother." Francis's voice broke in between words and then he dissappeared.

"What the hell was that?" He said.


	3. Sail

Bash stared at the sword wondering if what had just happened had really just happened. There was really only one way to be sure unfortunately. He took a deep breath and flexed his fingers a few times before reaching out to touch it once more. Slowly he could see Francis appear before him.

"Francis? Is that really you?" he asked.

"It's really me brother." Francis said.

"But how?" He wondered.

"You have a gift Bash, I don't have time to explain how it works, not that I'm entirely sure myself. I came here to tell you that you have to go back to France. My mother needs your help." he said.

"Your mother is the devil. She doesn't need help." he replied.

"My mother is the devil? And what does that make yours?" Francis asked. Bash only made an angry face. He didn't feel like using this time to argue with his dead brother. "Ii used to think my mother was selfish and power hungry too, but from where I am now i can see more. Past, present, future. She isn't as bad as you think. If Mary can see the good in her, don't you think perhaps you should try as well? Besides, it doesn't matter, this isn't about her. It's about our brothers and sisters. Even if you're right, and my mother is the devil, they still need you." Francis reasoned.

"How am I supposed to help her after what she did?" he asked.

"I think you're more worried about how you are going to help her after what YOU did." Francis said.

"You know?" he realized.

"I know a lot of things I probably wouldn't if I were alive." he told him.

"Can you see...everything?" Bash wondered how far his knowledge spanned.

"I don't SEE much of anything. Bit's and pieces, But we get senses here. Feelings. I know our family is in danger, though I don't know what kind, and I know it's you who has to help them because it's your fault they are in this mess." he said.

"Alright, fine. I'll do it. For you." Bash said.

"I want you to do it for them. And one more thing, tell Mary...well tell her I'm here. Tell her I'm with her." he said. Bash nodded.

"Is there..." Bash started, but Francis began to disappear.

"Good luck brother." Bash could barely hear him say as he vanished. A moment later Mary came back in the room.

"What are you still doing in my chambers?" she asked sternly.

"I...I'm sorry. The sword." He swallowed. "I saw Francis. I spoke with him."

"Francis? Are you sure." Mary asked.

"Yes. Yes I'm sure." he said.

"Well, well get him back. Let me talk to him. Through you maybe..." Mary began.

"Mary, Mary. I can't. I can't control it. I don't know how to get him back." Bash explained.

"Well, what did he say?" She questioned.

"He wants me to go back. He wants me to help Catherine...I agreed to go." he told her.

"Good." she deadpanned.

"He also wanted you to know that he's here with you." he said, trying not to look her in the eye.

"Somehow, I knew that." she said. He nodded.

"I should go pack if I am to leave for France." He said as he started to leave. Mary stopped him.

"Bash, you can do this." she said.

"I hope you're right." he answered.

Meanwhile, in France, Catherine had been struggling with The Brigade. They protested, stole and attacked something nearly every day. Catherine had been spending all her time, effort and even money, trying to squash these devils to no avail. She knew they likely had an inside source just as The Red Knights had, but without someone in the kings guard to trust, she had no way of weeding the traitor out. She had a feeling it was one of Martel's men, or even Martel himself, but as he had become one of Charles most trusted advisors, there was nothing she could even do to cajole it out of him. She couldn't even get near him. What's worse, she was almost sure Martel had something to do with Leith's death. She didn't dare tell Claude though, she'd never believe her. She needed proof first.

"You're majesty, a word?" Narcisse said as he jogged up next to her in the hallway.

"Unless it concerns my grandson, there isn't anything you could say that I want to hear." she said as she continued at her hurried pace.

"It's about The Brigade. I have intel for you." he said as quietly as he could and still be heard.

"Don't you want to bring it to the King so you can gain even more favor with him?" she said sarcastically.

"The King, with all do respect, would not know what to do with this information if I did give it to him. His mistakes are piling up. I never thought I'd say this, but we need to get the regency back in your hands. I'd rather have you running things than have a de Guise pulling Charles's strings." he told her.

"Or are you just acting as though you're helping me when you are really just planning on throwing me to the wolves once you have what you want. I help prove to the council that Charles needs a regent, only for you to steal it out from under me again. Charles can make a good king one day, he just needs to learn, and I won't have you trying to take that away from him." she said. Narcisse grabbed her arm to stop her from walking.

"No tricks. I'm not trying to steal anything. Not when France is so close to ruin. France needs stability, and you are the only one who can provide that right now. Even I know that. I've already lost the regency once, to try for it again would be foolish. Let me help you." he said. Catherine pursed her lips and thought a moment.

"Fine. Tell me what you know, but if I do find out you're plotting something, I swear you will find yourself begging for death." she threatened. She knew he was likely hoping she would trust him enough to start taking his advice. If he couldn't be regent he would try to rule France through her, but she needed him, so she decided to let him think it was working.

"My spies discovered what appears to be a code they've been using to inform their members where they are meeting and what they are planning. They haven't been able to crack it yet, but they are almost certain this is for a raid that hasn't happened yet. If we can get there before them..." he started.

"We may be able to take them down, or at least find out who their informant is." she finished. "Well, let's go crack it then." she started toward her chambers and Narcisse followed suit.


	4. Light 'Em Up

They'd been at it for days. Catherine and Narcisse had been staring at that letter for what seemed like an eternity. They'd been hold up in her room with a giant pot of tea and an endless supply of paper that they had tested their code cracking skills on. Nothing had worked. Then one day, after a sleepless night, it happened...

"I've got it!" Catherine exclaimed, putting the paper down on the desk and pulling out another blank piece. "I'm so exhausted that this gibberish finally started to make sense."

"Catherine we have been at this too long, you're probably just delirious." he said, barely audible while wiping the sleepiness from his eyes. He walked over to the desk as she was furiously scribbling her work down before she lost it in her tired brain. He looked down at what she was writing. "My God, you have got it."

"It's numbers..." she said.

"Coordinates." he corrected. She pulled out a map and started marking it off. "There. This is the next meeting place she said pointing to the map.

"And if your work is accurate, this says that it's happening tomorrow morning." he said.

"Tomorrow morning? How are we supposed to gather enough men that we can trust that quickly?" she questioned. Narcisse studied the map.

"We may not need that many men for this. I know this spot. It's an old farm house. With the lay of the land, we may be able to sneak in and blow the place while they're still inside. Get me two men and some gunpowder." he said as he marked off an attack plan.

"Even that is impossible. I no longer have any men I can trust. They are all loyal to Charles, who only seems to listen to Martel de Guise. I can't be sure they won't tell the King what we're up to. Can't you use your own men?" she asked.

"All of my men are days from here on another mission. They'll never make it back in time." he told her.

"Is it possible for you to pull this off alone?" she asked.

"Alone? Maybe remotely, but it's practically a suicide mission. The chances that it succeeds and allows me to keep my life are small at best." he said.

"You risked your life before for France, in that fighting ring. This is no different. We may never get another chance. All you have to do is light some gunpowder..." she said.

"That was different. I actually stood a chance there. This...I'm not going to die unless I'm at least mostly sure it will do any good. It's not worth the risk. I'd barely be able to pull it off with two." he explained.

"Please, Stephan..." she started.

"No Catherine, I'm sorry. Get me the men, or this isn't happening." he said, and then he left.

"We'll see about that." she said to herself.

Catherine woke before the sun the next morning. She put on her riding habit and trousers and packed a bag full of gunpowder and the map that Narcisse had plotted out the day before, and snuck out the south keep and to the stables. If Narcisse wasn't going to take care of this, she would. It was her only option. The Brigade had to be stopped now, before they grew too powerful and destroyed them all. If all went well, she'd be back before lunch, and if it didn't, well, who would miss her? She understood that it may cost her her life, but she had to try to save her family, no matter how much they hated her at the moment. Lord knows, they weren't doing a very good job of saving themselves.

She stopped her horse just short of the farm house and tied her reigns to a tree. She crept up on the building from behind a hill and looked over to make sure no one had arrived early. There was no one in sight. She knew she had to work quickly, there was no knowing how much time she actually had before they showed. She went down and edged herself around the wall of the farm house peering in windows and doors to see if anyone was inside. The coast was clear. She went inside and started laying a line of gunpowder around the inside of the building, being careful to make sure it could not be seen. She ran the line outside and behind a bush where she could light it from.

"There. One down, two to go." she said quietly to herself. She laid two more lines of powder according to Narcisse's plans and ran back over the hill to wait for the men to arrive. When they got there she would have to light all three lines and haul ass out of there with out being seen. Sounded simple enough in theory, the problem was, the lines were spread out pretty far apart. Now that she was looking at the distance from further away, she started to worry. How was she supposed to get from one end of the property to the other without being noticed and back before it blew? She had really gotten herself in over her head now, but it was far too late to back out because they were coming now, and they would surely see the lines if she let them alone too long. And she was sure she'd never be able to get away if they did. She waited awhile as the men filed into the farm house. When no more had shown up for awhile she headed for the first line. She pulled a flint from her pocket and lit the first without incident. She took off as fast as she could toward the next and struck the flint again. This time it was a bit more difficult. The flint wasn't sparking as much, but still she lit it and made her way to the last. As she came up on it she thought maybe she may just pull it off. She already had two lit and no one had seen her.

'I can do this.' she thought to herself. 'Just one more. Almost there.'

She got to the last one and struck the flint. Nothing. No spark. She panicked. She struck the flint again and again, and only small little flickers of light escaped. None enough to light it. She looked up to see the other two lines making their way toward the building and knew they had to strike at the same time. She moved up the line a bit so it would get there faster and struck the flint again to no avail. She kept trying. She couldn't fail. Not when she was this close. She started striking it furiously as she prayed for it to light. She was so distracted by the task at hand, she didn't hear the men approaching. She only realized it when the tip of a sword slid into her view. She stopped what she was doing and slowly looked up. Out of the corner of her eye she could see others kicking a break in the gun powder lines to stop them from burning further. There were at least four of them. She swallowed and then bit her lip. The sword went to her throat.

"And who do we have here? A woman? A noble by the look of your clothes. What kind of noble woman would come out here all on her own? Have you no guards? No men in your family?" The man asked.

"There are. In fact they're out there right now. There's more of them than you. They hear me scream, they will come for you." She lied.

"Save it. We already know there's no one else out there. Who are you?" He said as he grabbed her collar and pulled her closer to the blade.

"I'm nobody." She said.

"Well, if you're nobody, then no one will miss you." He said. He pushed her up against a tree, his arm at her throat holding her back. "Tell me who you are and how you found us, and maybe I might make it quick and painless. She spit in his face.

"Now that wasn't very lady like." He said.

"Let me have a go at her." Another man said from behind him. Catherine looked over at him licking his lips and shivered with disgust. She wasn't afraid to die, but there was one thing she was afraid of...

'Maybe if I make them mad enough they'll just kill me and get it over with.' she thought.

"I guess you can't get a woman any other way." she said to him. He backhanded her across the face. She winced.

"I can't figure out if you enjoy pain or you're just stupid." said the first man. The second pulled out a knife and forced her onto the ground. He kneeled down in front of her and put it to her chest.

"Try anything, and I'll make sure your suffering lasts for days." he growled as the first man and the other man behind him grabbed her arm to pin her down. She started to struggle. He pushed the knife up against her, not enough to pierce the skin...unless she moved. He leaned in. His lips practically brushing up against hers. "Why struggle? Just sit back and enjoy it." he sneered. She bit down on his bottom lip as hard as she could. Her teeth going almost all the way through it. He pulled back, growling. "You whore!" he said as he stood and kicked her.

She yelled out in pain. No...this couldn't be how she died. It couldn't come down to this. Not again. For the first time ever, she wished she'd listened to Narcisse. No she hadn't been afraid to die...but it never occurred to her what might happen before she died.


	5. Little Lion Man

She could feel the cold steel of the knife still pressed up against her. She couldn't struggle too much or she'd just end up stabbing herself. He ripped the buttons off the front of her riding habit. No. No, this wasn't happening. She couldn't let it. But she also could barely move, so she did the only thing she could and screamed, praying someone was out there to hear her. That turned out to be a bad idea. It only made him angrier, and he jabbed her in the side with the knife. It didn't go all the way in, but it was enough to give her a decent sized wound. On the plus side, it knocked the knife out of his hand long enough for her to kick him. Then she struggled, trying to free her arms while he retrieved the knife. He he grabbed her hand and put the knife to it.

"That's it. I'm gonna take one piece at a time. Should I start with your fingers?" he said and then put the knife to her head. "Or maybe your ear will come first." then he ran the tip of the knife down her body. "Maybe I'll just make the left side match the right." he said raising the knife. She closed her eyes tight and waited for the pain. Then she heard what sounded like a horse gallop and a sword being pulled. Then she heard him yelp and then her arms went free. She only opened her eyes for a second, when she saw one of the other men coming at her. She couldn't stand, so she closed her eyes again and turned away. Then there was a hand on her shoulder and she flinched.

"It's alright. You're safe now. It's okay." said a very familiar sounding voice. She slowly turned back around toward the direction of the voice. She couldn't believe her eyes. There in front of her was a face she never imagined she'd ever see again, let alone have it be the one saving her. And from what she could tell, he was almost as surprised as she.

"S...ss...Sebastian?" she stuttered.

"Catherine? What?" he said. His head was spinning what was going on? Why was she out here? He shook his head and put his hand out to her, but she flinched again, not knowing if she should be afraid of him too, considering what happened when last she saw him. "I'm not going to hurt you." he said, and she eased a bit. "But we need to get out of here in case their friends come...can you stand?" she shook her head. He reached down and helped her up. Her arm was around his shoulders his around her waist as he propped her up.

"I have a horse just over that hill." she said.

"Do you think you can ride?" he asked.

"Not very far." she said. She hoped her adrenaline was up enough to get her a safe distance.

"It'll have to do." he said. He used his free hand to take his horses reigns and guide him over the hill.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as they stumbled along.

"It's a long story. I'll explain when we're safe." he said as they arrived at the horse. He lifted her up and she groaned a little at the pain. "Are you sure you can ride?"

"I don't really have a choice do I?" she said. He hopped on his horse.

"Just follow me. I know where to go." he said. They rode off, and soon he could see Catherine starting to slump over on the horse. "Catherine, don't quit on me now, we're almost there." he said. Shortly after, they pulled up on a cave. He got down off the horse and ran over to Catherine just in time to keep her from falling to the ground.

"What is this? Just take me back to the castle." she mumbled as he lifted her.

"You'll never make it that far. If we don't stop and dress that wound you'll bleed out." he explained. He carried her inside and sat her down, then brought the horses in and tied them up to a log that lay on the ground of the cave. He took a blanket, a rag and a flask out of his saddle bag. He laid the blanket down and put Catherine on it. He pulled back the flap of her jacket to get a better look at the wound. "You're going to have to take off that corset." he told her. She breathed in at an attempt at a sarcastic laugh.

"Of course I will." she said breathed. She tried to sit up to take of her jacket, but was struggling.

"Umm, do you...do you want me to um." Bash said as he started to reach to help her, but then pulled back, feeling awkward. She looked up at him, defeated and he knew she couldn't do it on her own. He propped her up and slid the the sleeves off one at a time and then laid her back down.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked. She'd asked him that question many times before and never got a straight answer, and she wasn't getting one now either.

"Not a question you should ask someone while you're still bleeding, in case they change their mind." he said as he made her roll over on her good side facing away from him. Truthfully, he wasn't really sure why. Now or then.

She pulled her jacket to her to cover her front as he began unlacing the back of her corset carefully.

"Are you thinking of changing yours?" she wondered.

"I'm still here aren't I?" he said as the corset came loose and he removed it with ease. She closed her eyes and shivered at the cold air. He looked down at her lying there, suddenly she looked so small, so frail and unassuming. He dampened the cloth with the alcohol from his flask. "This is going to sting." he warned, as he gently brushed her coat away from the wound and reached down to wipe the blood off. She winced at the contact and Bash put his hand on her shoulder for comfort. As soon as their skin made contact his mind flashed with another vision.

 _A young girl sat on a cold stone floor, soldiers around her, leering. One touched her cheek._

 _"I think I'll take the little Medici first." he said, then laughed menacingly._

Then the vision was gone.

"Bash! Bash are you okay?" Catherine asked. He shook his head.

"Fine. I'm fine, I just...I'm fine." Bash said as he continued to clean the wound. Was that vision of the past? Of her? Had she been...but she was so young, so innocent. And then he remembered the look in her eyes when he'd found her earlier. My god, it was her. It was the same look of terror. Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach and some of the hatred he'd felt for her was replaced with hatred for the men who did that to her instead. "You're loosing too much blood, I can't get it to stop."

"I thought I might not make it through the day when I went out there, but this isn't exactly how I thought I would go." she said quietly, as she could barely speak now.

"What WERE you doing out there?" he prodded as he tried to put pressure on the wound.

"I was trying to save my family from those rebels." she said.

"Rebels?" he asked.

"They have been threatening our family for months, I just wanted to make it stop, to make my children safe again." she said. Then it came, he felt guilty. She'd gone out into almost certain death for her children? Mary was right, he'd made a huge mistake. He'd been so angry at the time, he couldn't see the other side of it.

"They will be, we'll stop them, but first we have to stop this bleeding." he said. He took her hand and put it on the cloth that sat atop her wound. "Here hold this a minute." He started to build a fire.

"What? What are you doing?" she asked when she realized. He finished and put a knife into the flame. Then he went and kneeled down in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to cauterize it." he said. She shook her head. "I have to or you WILL die. It's alright, you'll be okay." he assured. He went back over to the fire and picked up the knife. He pulled out his glove from his pocket and handed it to her. "You might want to bite down on this. I've known men to take a piece of their own tongue off." he said.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better." she growled.

"No. It's supposed to keep you from biting off your tongue, though your tongue would likely sooner take your teeth off than the other way around." he said. She glared at him as she grudgingly placed the leather between her teeth. He gripped the knife in one hand and took hers with the other. "Ready?" she nodded. He took a deep breath and placed the scolding metal on her wound. He could hear the sizzle and Catherine's grip tighten around his fingers. The glove fell out of her mouth as she screamed in pain. Bash dropped the knife as the penetrating sound of her wailing triggered the vision again.

 _Young Catherine was screaming as the men tore her dress. One pushed her down and climbed on top of her. The screaming continued, but the vision changed. Now he could see his siblings laid out on the floor again, flames all around. He panned up to see Catherine hovering over them. She was holding Claude's hand and running her fingers through Charles's hair as she cried._

 _"No!" came another blood curdling scream._

Then he was back again. Catherine was shivering with pain. He pulled her in to comfort her.

"It's alright. It's okay." he said as she continued to shake. Bash leaned back and let out a breath, praying that he would never have to do that to anyone again.


	6. I'm Not Calling You A Liar

At first she had barely noticed his arms around her, as the pain seared through her. Slowly she became aware of his presence. For some strange reason, it gave her some comfort. Her breathing became more even, though it was still excruciating. Bash slowly let go of her and picked up the cloth he had before. He poured more alcohol over it to rinse it off and then, very gently, began to clean the excess blood off her wound.

"So tell me then, why are you here?" Catherine said in a raspy voice. She needed something to distract her from the pain.

"Catherine, now really isn't the..." he began. He didn't want to tell her about the vision while she was already in such a bad state.

"You said you tell me when we were safe, and we are...mostly." she said, wincing slightly every time the rag touched her. He tried to be more careful, but he was already as gentle as he could be. He got up and grabbed another cloth from his bag and a vile and walked back over to her. He opened the vile and started rubbing its contents on her wound.

"Well, I...when our boat cashed on the shore in Scotland, I was near death. We were saved by some druids. They healed me, but a band of rebels killed them, we only escaped with our lives due to some quick thinking and a bit of luck." he started his story.

"What does any of this have to due with why you're here? And what is that horrid smelling concoction you're putting on me?" she asked.

"Well if you would give me a moment, I was getting to that. As for the ointment, it's to help it heal, and you probably don't want to know what's in it." he said. Catherine wrinkled her nose up at the thought of how bad the ingredients must be if he didn't want to tell her. "Anyway, as I was saying, we tricked the rebels into thinking we were kidnapped by the druids so they would help us, but while one of them was dying she told me that I had magic in me. I thought she was just out of it at first..."

"At first? I take it to mean she wasn't as out of it as you thought." Catherine assumed. Bash took the the cloth and started to wrap it around her middle.

"When we finally got to the castle, I started to see things. I saw her again, the druid who told me I had magic." he told her.

"But she died. Didn't she?" Catherine asked. Bash nodded.

"Exactly. It was her spirit. She told me I needed to learn about my gift so that I could use it to do good...so I left, I went to find another group of druids who took me in and taught me. I wasn't there long before I started to have visions, sort of like Nostradamus. At first they were just small things, and then I had a vision of a fire. Just a fire, nothing more. For weeks, it was the same. Just a fire. Then, all of the sudden, something more appeared in the vision. It was Mary. I saw her lying there, dead amongst the flames. So I rode back to the castle that day, to warn her..." Catherine interrupted again.

"Is Mary alright?" she asked worried.

"Yes, Mary's fine, there's still more." he said as he tied off the cloth. Catherine rolled her eyes, both annoyed and relived that Mary was okay.

"And I'll be dead before you get to the point." she added.

"That night I saw it again, only this time Mary wasn't the fire's only victim." he paused a moment, unsure of how to say the rest. "It was Charles and Claude, Elizabeth, all of them, all of your children." Catherine shook her head. "That's when Mary told me about Claude's wedding invitation, and I knew that must be it. I told her not to come, one less person we will have to worry about."

"No. No, this can't be true. Your vision must be wrong, maybe you misinterpreted. or...or..." Catherine started to panic.

"There wasn't much to misinterpret." he said, putting his hands on her shoulders to settle her. "It's okay. I'm not going to let it happen. I am here to help you stop it."

"I once thought I could stop a vision, we both know how well that turned out." she said as her eyes watered up. He saddened at the thought of Francis, knowing how they all played at least a small part in his demise.

"This is different. Charles isn't Francis, he will believe it...and now you have me...You won't be fighting alone." she calmed a little and laid back down.

"That's what happened earlier isn't it? When your eyes went blank. You saw something." she asked. He nodded. "What did you see?"

"It was you...crying over their bodies." he said. He wasn't sure if it was right to tell her the rest. She might feel violated further. He really had no right to see what he'd seen. The look of fear covered her face. "I...um...let me..." he said as he stood and took a shirt out of his bag and returned to her side. "Here." he said handing it to her.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"To wear. I mean, you can't put that corset back on and that riding habit doesn't really...I mean in the front it's..." he stammered. She took the shirt and tried to put it on with out dropping the jacket she held to her chest. He saw her struggling and tried to help her. Once the shirt was over her head he pulled the jacket from beneath it and placed it over her like a blanket. "You should try to get some rest. We'll have to spend the night here. There's no way I can move you yet. Regain your strength and we'll head back to the castle in the morning."

"Rest. There is no rest now." she said. He stood, and once again took something from his bag. Another vile.

"Here, drink this." he said. She looked at him warily.

"I'm not drinking anything when I don't know what it is." she said.

"What? Do you think I'm going to poison you or something?" he asked.

"You might. How should I know." she replied.

"Why would I go through all this trouble to help you, just to poison you two minutes later?...It's for the pain." he clarified, putting the bottle closer to her. She took it reluctantly, looking at it with unsure eyes. She drank it and handed it back to him.

"All these remedies you have..." she posed as a question.

"The druids." he answered. She raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that she should have realized. "They work in all sorts of healing, magic and otherwise. This is just a bit of ginger root and willow bark. No magic here."

"And your visions, how can you be sure they're accurate?" she wondered.

"I guess you'll just have to trust me." he said.

"Forgive me if I don't. I believed Nostradamus's visions because he had accurate visions before, I know nothing of your ability, or if you even have the sight at all. Seems like an odd coincidence that this gift should appear just after you leave here, no?" she sounded as if she were accusing him of something, but really she simply didn't want to think that this vision could be true. However, believing she was actually accusing him, he got defensive. If she wanted proof, he'd give her proof.

"Let's find out just how accurate my gift is then shall we? I'll tell you what else I saw before and you can tell me if it's true. Hows that?" he hissed.

"What are you talking about?" she asked worried.

"I didn't just see you in the future, I saw your past as well. Back in Italy. I saw you restrained, men around you. Soldiers, tearing your dress. How many were there? Four? Five maybe? Shall I go on? How detailed would you like me to get before you believe me?" every word was dripping with anger. Pain and fury were fighting to take precedence in Catherine's mind and all over her face. Bash could see what he'd done in saying what he had.

"How dare you." was all she could muster to say. He knew immediately that he'd made a mistake, but he was too angry at the moment to apologize.

"How dare I? You all but called me a liar." he replied.

"Get out." she said.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Get out! Leave!" she yelled even though it hurt to do so.

"Right, and I'm sure you'll have fun getting back to the castle." he scoffed.

"I would rather die than look at your face for one more moment." she said. He pursed his lips and then he grabbed his things.

"Fine! I don't need this. I'll just go warn Charles myself and be on my way.I'm sure he'll send someone to get you...eventually...that is if you make it that far!" he added as he took his horses reigns and stormed out of the cave leaving her half dressed with no food or water. Then the tears she'd been holding back started to fall.

Once Bash was outside the cave he picked up a rock and threw it in frustration.

"AH! Insufferable woman!" he grunted. He took a deep breath and looked back at the cave. He sighed. He'd let his anger get the better of him, which seemed to be the trend when he was around her. Why did she have to be so steadfast in her attempt to grind on his every nerve? He tied his horse to a nearby tree and started pulling some berries off a bush aggressively. He started to think maybe he shouldn't have come back to France after all.


	7. Way Down We Go

Catherine laid there, tears streaming, even through her anger. That bastard. How dare he do this too her. How dare he use that day against her. Sure she'd been a bit harsh with him, but not harsh enough for that. She was almost more angry at herself than him. Angry because she let it get to her, because she thought she'd moved on enough that it couldn't hurt her anymore. But also, she was angry that she'd trusted him again, even if it was only for a moment. Why had she expected him to be anything but cruel?

Now she was just still, unable to get up, and the stupid concoction Bash had given her was wearing off. She had really gotten herself in a mess this time, and then she'd pissed off the only person who could get her home. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't stay here all night by herself. What if those men found her...forget that, even if they didn't...how was she supposed to get dinner? And the clothes she was wearing were hardly warm enough to fend off the night air. She had to get back to the castle, even if it was the most painful horse ride ever, she didn't have a choice. It was either that, or freeze to death, or starve to death, or both. Maybe she should have made Bash even more mad. Maybe he would have snapped and killed her, at least that would have been quick.

She tried to sit up until a blinding pain swept through her and knocked her back down. The cave was spinning. Maybe she deserved this. Maybe this was her penance for all the horrible things she'd done. No. It didn't matter if she deserved it or not, she had to get back so she could save her children. She had to make it, for them, even if they wouldn't do the same for her. So she tried again. She used all her strength and finally pulled herself up. She hobbled forward holding her hand over her wound as if that would stop the pain. She then attempted to put her riding habit back on, sans corset of course. She got one arm through, but couldn't manage to get the second through, so she simply laid it over her shoulder and hoped for the best. She started walking toward her horse, but each step felt like it took an eternity, an extremely painful eternity. Each step more excruciating than the last. She wasn't even halfway there when her legs just gave out. But she never hit the ground. Instead something a bit softer. She was disorientated so it took her a moment to get her bearings back, and when she did she realized why.

"You really do have a death wish don't you?" said Bash as he caught her.

"You. You came back." she stammered.

"Maybe I have a death wish too." he joked. As he laid her back down on the blanket.

"I, I don't understand. Why?" she probed.

"Honestly, I don't know." he replied. "I just couldn't leave you here to die. Besides, knowing how much you hate being near me, this might be better revenge anyway." he grinned as he said the last part. She tried to be mad, but something about the look on his face wouldn't allow her to be. "Here." he said handing her yet another vile. "I figured the other remedy I gave you wouldn't last long, so I made this. It's much stronger." she looked at it with worry. "Not this again. I swear I'm not going to poison you. Just because you go around knocking off people who annoy you, that doesn't mean everyone does."

"If I knocked off everyone who annoys me, there would be no one left at court." she said flatly. She took the vile and drank. He actually had to stop himself from laughing at that.

"I also got us some dinner." he said as he stood and held up some fish he'd caught. "I thought you might be hungry. Actually, I knew you would be. You're always hungry."

"I am not." she insisted. He scoffed.

"We once found a dead decaying rabbit on our outdoor buffet table at the fall festival and you had them remove it and still ate food off of that very table." He reminded her.

"What? It was on the other side of the table." She said.

"The smell was atrocious. Everyone else was trying not to vomit and you're just sitting there, feasting away." He said.

"Oh please...now you're just exaggerating." she rolled her eyes.

"Of course I am." He said sarcastically. "I'll just get this started."

He began cleaning and preparing the fish in silence. Then he started cooking them...in silence. Finally he set the finished fish down in front of her.

"Sorry, I only have the one plate, we'll have to share." He said, sitting down on the other side of it. They ate a few bites in silence once again. Bash watched her and saw the pain in her eyes and knew it wasn't just her injury hurting her. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't have to be so...harsh. What you went through was terrible and I shouldn't have thrown it in your face like that." Catherine's expression didn't change. "When someone apologizes for their part in an argument, usually you should apologize for yours, but right now I'd at least settle for some acknowledgement. Especially since you.."

"I'm not mad at you. At least not for today." She interjected.

"Then why won't you even look at me?" He asked.

"Because you saw...you saw what happened and I can't...knowing that you..." she began.

"Oh, Catherine, It wasn't...I mean...I only saw what lead up to...I saw nothing that you should feel ashamed of...not that you should feel ashamed by what happened...just that if you were...I didn't see it." He babbled.

"I'm sorry too. I just didn't want to believe what your vision. I guess it was easier to get mad at you than accept the truth." She said, finally looking up. Bash stared as if he expected her to say something more. "If you're waiting for my apology for anything else, it's not going to happen. Let's clear that up right now. I'm not waiting for yours either."

"Because you think I'm too stubborn to apologize, or because you don't think I should have to?" He wondered. Catherine didn't answer, she just shoved another piece of food in her mouth. Her silence made him wonder. Did she think she was right still and just didn't want to start another fight? Or did she actually feel bad for what she did and was too prideful to say? She did just apologize for this fight though, so perhaps pride wasn't the issue. Either way, now wasn't the time to hash it out. He needed her to help him save his siblings and she needed him.

They finished eating quietly. Once they were done he reached for the plate, his hand grazing hers as he did. Then his eye went blank and...

 _Suddenly he felt different, like he couldn't breath._

 _"Is everything alright?" Catherine asked, her hand on his cheek. "What happened?"_

Then his eyesight returned.

"What happened? Was it another vision?" She asked.

"Yes." He said.

"What was it?" She prodded.

"I'm not really sure." He said.


	8. Dreams

_**There seemed to be a little bit of confusion on the last chapter, so let me clarify: The part in Italics...**_

 _[Suddenly he felt different, like he couldn't breath._

 _"Is everything alright?" Catherine asked, her hand on his cheek. "What happened?" ]_

 _ **...Was Bash's vision. That was it, there was no more. Putting [] around them from now on.**_

* * *

He couldn't shake what he'd seen, even though it wasn't much. Why was Catherine touching his face like that? Why was he feeling drawn to her that way?

"Well you are clearly bothered by whatever you saw. So it must have been something of note." she said.

"Really Catherine, it was nothing. I mean it was something, but there wasn't enough there to say what." he explained.

"Well tell me what was there and maybe I can help piece it together." she requested.

"I don't know!" he snapped.

"If it was nothing then why are you snapping at me again? And you wonder why I don't trust you." she said. She had a point. Why was he snapping?

"You're right. I'm sorry...It's just...it was...personal, okay. Nothing you need to worry about." he explained.

"Personal?" she asked, not believing him entirely.

"Yes." he said. She wasn't in he mood to play games so she just decided to let it go.

"Alright. Fine. It was personal...you would tell me if..." she began.

"Don't worry, if you need to know, you will." he assured. He desperately wanted to get off this track. "Look, you should get some rest if you're going to heal enough for me to get you home tomorrow." he laid down next to her on the blanket and pulled his cloak up over them like a blanket. Catherine furrowed her brow and looked up at him.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked. He looked down at the cloak and realized what she meant.

"It is going to be cold as hell tonight. That combined with the amount of blood you lost, you'll freeze to death without some kind of heat." He explained. She didn't reply, she simply rolled over on her uninjured side and faced away from him. He remained on his back and put his arm behind his head. He glanced over at her and watched the rise and fall of her breathing. He thought about his vision again. He could feel her hand on his face. The way she'd touched him was almost as if...no...but it had felt so...he shook his head. What was he thinking?

"Is the remedy I gave you working?" he asked. There was no response. He leaned over her and he could see she had already fallen asleep. He had his answer. He laid back down and closed his eyes and soon drifted off himself, and soon the dreams came.

 _[He could feel the flames lick across his skin. He ran trying to find a way out. He came across his dead brothers splayed out on the ground. He panicked. They were already gone, he couldn't help them now. He had to find the others before they shared their fate. He heard Catherine's cries. He ran toward the sound. There she was on her knees, Mary and Claude fallen in front of her. One hand holding Marys, the other cupping Claude's cheek as she kissed her forehead. Wait...Mary? How? He called out to her but she didn't seem to hear him. Then he saw Narcisse run in behind her._

 _"Catherine come, we have to go before the whole castle goes down. Please, there's nothing you can do here, they're already gone." he urged as he tried to pull her away._

 _"If they are gone then so am I. I will not leave my family. Let the fire take me." she said through streaming tears._

 _"Catherine, this is madness." he said._

 _"Then I suppose I'm mad." she said, holding onto Claude tighter. Narcisse looked around at the fire and ran back out of the castle._

 _"Wait! Is that all you're going to do!? Are you just going to leave her!? Go back you son-of-a-bitch!...Catherine! Catherine get up!" Bash yelled, but no one could hear him.]_

He shot up out of his sleep. Nothing had changed. He hadn't even saved Mary. It didn't make sense. What was she doing there? And Narcisse...he should kill him for leaving her there like that. How dare he? He looked over at Catherine. She was shaking, but still asleep. He touched her arm. She was ice cold. He pulled the cloak up more and put his arm over her, pulling her back up against his chest, careful not to hurt her. He laid his cheek on top of her head and snuggled in trying to get her warm. Her hair smelled like flowers and her golden curls felt soft against his face. It was oddly comfortable having her in his arms. So comfortable it took him hardly any time at all to fall asleep once more.

He hadn't noticed, but Catherine had actually been awake since the moment he'd touched her arm. She hadn't opened her eyes because she was truly freezing, and she thought if she'd let him know she was awake she would have been obligated to tell him to remove himself. His arms were warm and inviting and she was more at ease than she thought she could be. She desperately wished she could turn around so that her face and arms would be warmer, but she dare not even try for fear of alerting him to the fact that she was awake. So she snuggled in as best she could and closed her eyes, shortly joining him in slumber. As their consciousness slipped into a deeper sleep...Bash's visions returned...

 _[It came in choppy. Bits and pieces. Nothing fluid. Catherine's hand was on his face again. Then it was running down his arm. Her lips were on his. He slid the dress of her shoulder. He could feel their bodies hit the bed. He could feel it all, like a tidal wave, and then it calmed. She was in his arms again, only this time she wasn't wearing any clothes...]_

 _and then she was..._

He was waking up...

He felt flush as he cracked open his eyes. Catherine started to open hers as well, his arms still around her. It was morning. Time for him to rise. Except he already had. As he slowly came out of the fever of the vision, he realized just how deep into the dream he'd been...and so did Catherine. As she could feel his manhood pressing against the back of her thigh. He quickly pulled back when he realized.

"I...I...um, sssorry" he stuttered, his face red with embarrassment.

"Men." she said, rolling her eyes with sarcasm, figuring it was just the occasional morning stiffness every man gets from time to time. She would have laughed at his reaction if it wasn't for fact that all she could think about now was the size of the particular piece of anatomy that had woken her from her sleep. She rolled back over so he couldn't see her face and tried to cover with additional sarcasm. "If you need to take care of that, I think there was a rather large shrub just outside you can use for modesty."

The thought lingered in his mind a moment because he yearned for relief, but there was no way he was going to hide behind a bush and rub one out while she waited in the cave knowing exactly what he was doing.

"I don't need a bush." he lied, trying to hide his fib from her. That was enough to finally make her laugh at him. "I'm going to get breakfast." he added as he stood.

"Fine. Just make sure you wash your hands first." she added with a giggle, followed by a small finch, as it hurt her wound a bit to laugh. He left the cave with the body language that if there had been a door, he would have slammed it. This was going to be a long day.


	9. Guilty All The Same

When Bash finally got up the courage to go back inside and face Catherine, she was trying to get up on her own again. She wasn't doing a good job. He rushed to her and stopped her.

"Whoa, whoa. That is not a good Idea. How many times do we have to do this?" he said as he grabbed onto her arms.

"As many times as it takes to get me out of here. Would you stop that, I'm fine." she said trying to his hands off of her.

"Oh, really? Is that why your face almost made friends with the ground?" he mocked as he laid her back down.

"I need to get home. I need to save my children, and I can't do that if I'm lounging away in this drippy old cave." she bellowed. "I thought you were taking me back to the castle."

"I am, but you need to let me help you if you're going to get there in one piece." he said.

"Well you're certainly taking your bloody time." she replied. "Shouldn't we be on the road by now?"

"You're still injured, it's going to be slow going. There's no reason you need to over exert yourself. I'm sure the vision isn't going to come true today." he said while opening a bag he'd had in his hand. He took some berries out of it, that he'd just picked and took another bag from his saddle that had some nuts and bread in it. "You need to eat something. Here." he added handing some to her.

"You seem off." she said in reference to his demeanor. "If you're still embarrassed about this morning, don't be. It's not like it's not entirely..."

"No. No, I'm not embarrassed. Everything's fine. I just..." he began.

"Then it's about the dream you had last night?" she asked. He balked momentarily, worried that she may have figured out what he was dreaming of somehow.

"Dream?" he asked, hoping to throw off suspicion, but not doing it well. He was nervous. He couldn't let her know what he'd seen, not yet, not when he didn't even know for sure how to feel about it, or if it was what he thought it was.

"Dream, vision...whatever it was that made you shoot up out of your sleep last night." she said. he sighed with relief, she wasn't talking about this morning at all. He hadn't realized she was awake. He'd almost forgotten about his other vision, or rather he was trying to forget. It was awful. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread it brought. "Did you see something new?"

"Not exactly. It started out the same. " he said sadly.

"So, why is that more upsetting than before?" she asked.

"I mean it was exactly the same. Mary was still there." he looked even sadder at that.

"It would figure the only thing you care about is her." she said with a bite to her tone. "Why I thought you'd want to save your brothers and sisters I don't know. You didn't care about the sisters your mother killed. I suppose it was only Francis you cared about, or were you just pretending to care for him so he'd let you stay in the castle?" she spat. Bash straightened up, angry at her accusation.

"How dare you! I love all of my siblings, all of them! Francis's death tore me apart! He wasn't just my brother, he was my best friend, he was everything to me!" he screamed at her.

"Really, then why is the thought of Mary still being there the thing that makes you upset and not that my children are still there. Why is she all that matters to you?" she argued.

"She's not the only thing that matters! It all matters! But if she is still there, that means we haven't changed anything! Me telling her to stay in Scotland wasn't enough to make a difference and it scares me because it makes me wonder if we can even change it at all, if anything that we do will keep it from happening! I failed my father, I failed my brother and I even failed my twin sisters...I can't fail the rest of them too. I can't!" he yelled back at her, tears threatening to spill. Her eyes began to water as well, and she bit her bottom lip to try to keep her emotions in check. She now felt awful for saying what she did.

"I'm sorry I..." she stopped mid thought. He knew what she meant she was sure. She didn't have to finish. Not that she could even if she wanted. She reached out and touched his hand. It's not your fault. Henry, Francis...the twins. There's nothing you could have done. You didn't fail them...I did. I'm the one who failed to find the poison that drove Henry mad, I'm the one who couldn't convince Francis the prophecy was true, I'm the mother who couldn't protect her own children. I'm the reason their dead, not you."

"If you don't blame me then why..." he began. She pulled her hand back.

"I only blame you for letting your mother go free, when you knew what she did. You just let her go without punishment of any kind. Let her live her life as if nothing had happened. Like my daughters...your sisters, were so insignificant that they shouldn't matter to anyone." She said with an angry but defeated tone.

"She was my mother." He said.

"That's no excuse. If I'd murdered you...do you think Francis would have let me live? He would have had me executed without a second thought and you know it. You forgive your family for many things, but there is always a line, a point of no return. My daughter's death, should have been that point, but you chose your murdering traitor of a mother instead, a mother who would not have done the same for you. If she really cared about you or Henry, she never could have done what she did. Your mother never sacrificed for you, instead she she made you be the one to sacrifice for her. The worst part is, she didn't even feel remorse, for any of it." she explained.

"Like you do?" he was starting to understand, but he wasn't quite ready to give up his position in this argument.

"You think I enjoy the things I do? You think it was fun to go after Mary, a girl I care for deeply, or make my son think his child was dead, or have my own daughter be beaten. You think it was easy for me to hurt the people I love? It was excruciating, but I'd rather they hate me forever and be alive than love me and be dead. Am I just supposed to let them die without a fight? It's bad enough I had to stand by and let Clarissa die, even though it was my own fault she was in that position, I sacrificed her to save the others and it wasn't fair. But I had no choice. What else was I supposed to do?" she continued. Bash flinched at the mention of Clarissa. Clarissa...it wasn't Catherine's fault she was dead, it was his, he'd killed her...to save Francis...

'My God,' he thought to himself 'If she's guilty...then so am I...and my mother...she's right...she didn't kill those girls to save anyone...she only did it because she was jealous. Am I faulting her simply because she's her? If anyone else had done this...would I care?' he looked at her as her emotions were fighting to show themselves and she continued to hold them back despite their obvious presence. He could see how hard she tried to keep them at bay, as if her life depended on it. He simply didn't know the answer yet.

"It wasn't your fault either. Henry, Francis, the twins, even...Clarissa. I can't speak to your other crimes, but their deaths were not on you." he sighed and tried to ignore the subject of his mother, because he wasn't quite sure how to deal with that just yet. Catherine made some good points, but something still held him to wanting to keep his mother's memory. "I want to protect my brothers and sisters. I do, even if it didn't seem that way. I don't want them to die anymore than you do. I love them, even if you don't believe it." he picked up the dish of food and handed it to her. "Here. You need to eat. Finish up and we'll figure out how to get you up on that horse."

It was a silent agreement not to bring up the subject of his mother again, at least not until they could shed some light on this vision and make a move to stop it, or until one of them was ready to apologize for it.


	10. So Cold

After finishing their breakfast, bash started to clean up and put everything away. He fed and watered the horses as well. The only thing left was getting Catherine back up on that horse.

"Alright, let's see if you can stand first. If you can't do that, then there's no way you can ride." he said. He lifted her up onto her feet, keeping his arms out just in case. She wobbled a bit and grabbed his arm for support, but then stood freely on her own...for a few seconds. She grabbed back onto his arm again, to keep from falling.

"Ahh, It's no use. " she huffed.

"No, no it's alright. You did better than I thought." he said.

"Not good enough to ride that horse all the way back to the castle." she replied.

"Maybe not by yourself, but we can share a horse. I can keep you upright and we'll go slow, take breaks. You can do this." he assured. She looked at him determined and took a deep breath. She gripped his arm, straightened herself up and nodded at him, ready to give it her all. "Do you think you can walk at all?"

"Only one way to find out." she said. He put one arm around her and tried to help her to the horse. She took a few wobbly steps and stopped. She looked at him and shook her head, signifying that it was too much for her.

"It's alright." he said and he scooped her up in his arms and started to carry her, careful not to reopen her wound. When he got to the horse he stopped a minute and looked at it, unsure of how to get her up on it. "This should be interesting." she rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you were right. We should take it slower. Perhaps we should stay one more night." she said. They looked at each other knowingly. Neither one of them could bare another night alone together, thinking about the wrongs they've committed and venturing back and fourth between arguing and apologizing and/or refusing to apologize. "Right. So how are we getting me on that horse?" Bash looked around, thinking of a solution when he eyed a large rock.

"Maybe I just need to be a bit taller." he said. He went to the rock and used it as a stool to step on, bringing the horses back to a height he could lift her to. "Hold onto the pommel." he instructed. He left her there a moment and took the reigns of her horse in hand before climbing up behind her. He wrapped the reigns around the pommel and put his arm around Catherine to keep her from falling. "Here we go then. Tell me if you need to stop." he said. She nodded unconvincingly. "I mean it. No trying to brave it out."

"Fine." she said, rolling her eyes as they started to move ahead slowly.

After a short while of silence, Catherine was already starting to feel the weakness creeping back in, but she wasn't about to tell Bash that just yet. She was still hoping it would pass. She leaned back on him to keep herself more steady. In bringing herself closer, the smell of her hair wafted his way. It was a wonderful scent. Even after spending the night in a cave it hadn't lost it's appeal. He discreetly took a deep breath in and suddenly he was in his vision again.

...the smell of her...the touch of her skin on his...it was only glimpses once again, but he could feel everything...

And then he was back again, breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" Catherine asked, trying to crane her neck to look at him. "You nearly fell off the horse."

"I...I'm...I think so." he choked out.

"It's a good thing you didn't or you would've taken me down with you." she said. "Another vision I assume. Strange how they are coming so frequently. What did you see?"

"I...it was nothing new." he said, trying not to was he being shown this? Surely it wasn't what it seemed. It couldn't be right, couldn't be real. If only he could see more...so he could understand what was happening...not to see more of her...or more parts of her.

"It's worrisome that you are being plagued by this same vision continuously. It makes me wonder just how close this fate is to us. How much time do we have?" she said, pulling him out of his thoughts. though part of her did not believe him. His body language was much different the first time he had this vision in front of her, and the way he'd shot up out of his sleep the night before...but now he seemed...off.

"No way to tell I'm afraid." he answered. "But I think the increasing frequency of them is merely because I'm getting closer to the castle. They seem to be triggered by sights, smells...touch. I don't think there's any additional danger to worry about." Catherine had furrowed her brow at his odd pause at the word 'touch', but quickly shook it off.

"I hope you're right." she said sadly. "I think we need to stop." Her voice got quieter as she spoke. Bash looked confused a moment, until he looked down. Catherine's hand was over her wound. He pulled it back to see it had started bleeding again.

"Mary was right. Stubborn till the very end." He said. He turned the horses and stopped at the edge of a stream. He tied them up and took Catherine down off the horse, laying her down under a tree. "Why didn't you tell me? You agreed."

"I just wanted you to shut up so I could get home." She said as he started pulling rhe sirt away from the wound. "To be honest I wasn't even listening to you."

"What's the point of getting home if your dead when you get there." He questioned as he started putting pressure on the wound. The moment his hand made contact with the warm red liquid, another vision came to him.

 _[He saw a flash of blood and then Catherine's face. She was pale and weak and much younger, but not as young as the first flashback he'd seen._

 _"I am going to die aren't I?" she asked.]_

"But then again, you've been closer to death than this, haven't you?" he said. When he came out of it.

"Why? How much did you see?" she asked worriedly.

"Not sure. It was only a glimpse. Why don't you tell me what happened?" he asked as he tended her wound further.

"As you've kept me from some of your visions, I have a right to do the same. As you have said, It's personal." she said. He had no right to be prying into her business.

"I'm seeing it for a reason. Fate wants me to know." he replied.

"Then let fate show you the rest, because I won't." she spat. Yeah, that vision was definitely wrong. How could they end up...like that if she couldn't even give him the smallest bit insight into who she really was. God forbid she seem human for even just a moment. He shook his head.

"Looks like the bleeding has stopped for the most part. We should stay put for a while longer just to be sure. I'll get you a fresh bandage." he told her, not wanting to engage her over it. If she wanted to turn a cold shoulder to his trying to mend fences...then let her. Once he saved his family, he would never see her again anyway. He stood with the bloody rag in hand. She shivered and clutched her clothing to her for warmth. He shook his head. He just didn't understand her at all. Couldn't she see he was trying to help despite all the terrible things that happened before? As he walked to the horse he saw her again, in his vision, crying out in pain. He looked back at her. What was she keeping from him, and why, when she was the one in pain? He needed to know. He knew he was seeing all this for a reason. He had to be.


	11. Home

After Bash had changed Catherine's bandage, he sat down next to her and stared at his feet for a moment, thinking to himself. She could see the anguish written all over his face. She wanted to tell him about what he saw, but she didn't want him to pity her any more than he probably already was. Why else would he be helping her if she weren't so pathetic at the moment? He rightfully should have left her there to die more than once. He rubbed his face and sighed.

"Look, there is something else I didn't tell you. I don't know why I didn't mention it. I wasn't hiding it from you, I just..." he paused, thinking of how to continue. He didn't look at her when he spoke. "Visions of the future and the past aren't the only thing I've seen...Mary has a sword that Francis gifted her in her study. When I touched it...I saw him. I saw Francis. He spoke to me."

"Francis spoke to you?" she asked as tears threatened to spill. "What did he say? Is he alright?"

"He told me that you weren't as bad as I think you are. He asked me to give you a chance. To help you and our siblings." he pursed his lips and took a breath as he wrung his hands. "I know you think I'm only here because Mary told me to come, but I didn't come for her, I came because he wanted me to trust you." he turned to look at her then. "But I can't do that if you don't give me a reason too."

"You seem to think I care if you trust me. I don't. I need your help, not your trust. Besides, why should I ask you to trust me when I don't trust you. You want to know what happened to me, but you haven't earned that yet. I can promise you, until I trust you...you're better off NOT trusting me." she answered with an odd sincerity to her tone. As if she were warning him against herself.

"Is that some sort of threat?" he asked.

"No." she said flatly. "Just a bit of advice.."

"You can't even give up one piece of yourself. One little bit of humanity to prove you aren't the monster that I have been told my whole life that you are! I am trying to reconcile what Francis said to me, and giving it every opportunity to be proven right, but you can't allow that. What do you want from me?" He yelled.

"I only want you to help me get home and save my children. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't see why that is such a problem for you. Why do we need to share our life stories with eachother? How does hearing about eachothers sad stories help us?" She questioned in an irritated tone. He sighed and rubbed his face again, defeated.

"You're right. It doesn't. Forgive me for thinking we could put an end to this feud. For thinking maybe, just maybe, there was more to you than your lying, scheming, controling exterior." He said as he started walking away. He started picking up large peices of wood.

She mentally kicked herself. He was trying, and it was what Francis wanted. She just couldn't bring herself to trust him after what he did, even if she understood why he did it. He placed armful of wood on the ground and started arranging them, then got up to get some rope from his horse.

"What are you doing?" She asked, confused.

"I'm fashioning a litter since you clearly cannot continue to ride the horse...unless you would rather wait here until they send someone to find you." He said.

"No." She said sadly. "No one is coming for me."

"Well then I'll get to it." He said, some of his irrtation melting away at the thought that she was probably right. If tbey hadn't run across someone from the castle yet, they likely weren't going to. As at odds as Francis was with her at times, he never would have left her to her possible death.

She watched as he tied the wood together. Making sure to check every knot several times. Making sure it wouldn't fall apart. She sighed.

"It was the twins. The day they were born." She said. He stopped working, but didn't look up. "It was a hard labor, seemed like it took forever. There was so much blood...After the first was born, barely breathing, they asked me if there was anything I wanted to say so that they could write it down as my last words. I told them I had nothing to say. I just wanted them to save my children. I was one breath away from death, and then I saw their faces, and somehow I found the strength."

They were both crying silently at this point, greatful that Bash never looked up, so neither of them could see the other shed a tear. She'd almost died giving birth to the twins...the twins his mother had killed. She'd gone through all of that pain just to lose them. He was suddenly sorry that he'd pushed her to admitting it. No wonder she didn't want to say it.

He finished up the litter silently, never looking at her, giving them both time to get their emotions in check. When it was done he went to her to lift her onto the litter. They could both see now the tear stain tracks on eachothers faces but neither commented on them. He placed her down gently and secured her to the litter. They stared at eachother for a moment, silently accepting what had been said. Knowing that it needed to end here. They needed to stop letting the past control them if they were going to fix anything.

"Is it too tight?" He asked.

"It's fine." She said. He nodded and turned to stand, but then changed his mind. "What made you tell me?" He asked.

"It's what Francis wanted." She said simply. He nodded. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll be home soon." He assured as he stood. He started walking to the horse.

"We'll be home?" She asked.

"I can't change who I am. It's home wether I want it to be or not." He said.

"And...do you want it to be?" She wondered.

"I guess we'll find out won't we." He said as he got on his horse and started to ride off toward the castle once again.


	12. Under the Covers

After riding for a bit more, Bash could finally see the castle. He stopped for a moment to look at it. That castle had been his home for most of his life, but now he didn't know if it still was. He didn't belong there anymore...did he ever really?

"It won't be long now." he said, maybe to Catherine, maybe to himself. He wasn't sure.

He finally arrived at the gates, Catherine still dragging behind him. The guards spotted him from a distance.

"It's the kings brother." one said to the other.

"And look he has the Queen Mother." the other said. "Call for the Lord Chancellor."

Bash hopped off his horse and began removing Catherine from the litter. He picked her up and the guards started to block his way.

"What are you doing? Let me in. Can't you see she's hurt. I have to get her inside." he said.

"How do we know you're not the one who hurt her lord?" one asked.

"He's not. For God's sake, would he be bringing me back if he was?" Catherine said, barely audible.

"Well you heard her. Step aside." he said pushing past them. "And call for the physician at once."

As he walked inside Narcisse ran up to them.

"What's happened?" he said with urgency. "What the hell is going on?" Somehow the mere question infuriated Bash.

"As if you care. She's been gone for two whole days and you didn't even try to find her." he spat.

"I didn't even know she was missing until this morning when a servant told me she never came home." he replied angrily.

"And yet you're still here aren't you?" Bash shot back.

"You little ingrate. What right do you even have to talk after the way you left here?" Narcisse took a step toward him as he spoke. They were both practically snarling at this point.

"Can the two of you please end the measuring contest and take me to the infirmary before I drop dead. Now is not the time." Catherine said. The two glared at each other one more time before Bash stepped around him and took Catherine to the infirmary. Narcisse waited a moment, taking a deep breath before following.

Bash laid her down on the bed in the infirmary. As they made contact with the bed, he got another flash of his previous vision...

 _[...where he was also lifting her onto a bed, but it was her bed...and he was kissing her...and taking off her clothes...]_

When his normal sight returned, he found himself with his hand on her cheek, gazing into her eyes. He shook his head as she looked at him a bit awkwardly. But before she had a chance to say anything, Narcisse barged in behind them, Bash's hand still on her cheek. He cocked his head to the side, as Bash pulled it back quickly. Bash stood. Narcisse nearly asked him what was going on, but changed his mind at the last second, because he could clearly see what was going on.

"What the hell happened out there?" he asked.

"She asked you for help and you wouldn't give it. So she took care of it herself." he told him.

"You were able to blow up the farm house?" he asked turning to her. She paused, not sure how to answer. The last thing she needed at the moment was an 'I told you so'.

"Almost." she said pursing her lips. "It would have worked save for a faulty flint."

"Which she wouldn't have had to worry about if you'd been there to help her." Bash added.

"She wouldn't have been out there at all if you'd been here instead of off in Scotland doing God knows what. You'd have been out there with your men, and that farm house would be gone, along with The Brigade's threats." Narcisse argued. Bash's lip curled in anger. He couldn't really argue with that, and Narcisse knew it, but he couldn't believe he was using it to justify letting this happen to her.

"You son-of-a-bitch." was all he could muster to say in return. Narcisse leaned in, in a threatening manner.

"You know I'm right and now we may never get another shot at them. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself." he said, then turned and left.

Bash was still seething as the physician came in. As he started to help Catherine, Bash slowly backed out of the room and stormed off to his rooms...until he remembered that they weren't his rooms anymore...but he needed somewhere to storm to. He needed a moment to himself to cool off. So he made his way to Catherine's rooms. The one room he knew no one was in at the moment. She probably wouldn't be okay with that, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt. After all, it would only be a minute. He entered and slammed the door behind him. He was so mad he didn't even know what to do with himself. He wanted to throw something, but remembered again, he wasn't in his room. He paced the room a moment until he just couldn't take it. He went to the bed and threw a pillow then sat down on it with his head in his hands. He took a deep breath and put his hands down at his sides, the soft fabric of the coverlet under his fingers...and his vision returned...

 _[...He was on top of her, half dressed, and she looked up at him, in nothing but her shift as he lowered himself to kiss her neck. His arousal became evident as it pressed against her thigh. He ran his hand up her leg and under the shift until he could...]_

He suddenly sprang back into reality. He was breathing heavily. No. No this couldn't be right. The visions before were so choppy he couldn't be sure, but this one was clear as a bell. He was in bed with Catherine. They were...no. He wouldn't, she wouldn't. They couldn't. They hated each other. She was the woman who killed his mother, had his sister beaten and knowingly slept with a serial killer. Even if he could find a way to forgive her for all of that, how could he ever look at her without thinking about what she did? Then he started to think about the fact that his other vision didn't make a whole lot of sense either. Mary in French court even after he'd warned her about the vision? She would never take the chance given their history with prophecies. Maybe...maybe they weren't right, any of them. Maybe his gift was broken, or maybe it wasn't a gift at all, but a curse.


	13. Castle of Glass

Bash lied awake in bed, almost afraid to sleep, that he may receive another vision. They were coming in so frequent and strong now that he was starting to have trouble distinguishing them from reality. Both prophecies gave him unprecedented amounts of stress. He was now convinced this ability wasn't a gift, but a curse. The pressure of knowing you're the only one who can help the people you love is almost too much to bare. And the other vision, well he didn't even want to think about that. He had no idea what to make of it. He could only imagine what Catherine would say to it if she knew. Then he thought to himself 'What if she did know?... that's it.' he then decided he should tell her. She would surely tell him it was ridiculous. Perhaps even mock him for it. Maybe then the vision would stop haunting him. He stood, ready to go straight to the infirmary and tell her... then he sat back down. How was he supposed to say that to her though? He wasn't sure he could form the words, much less say them with a straight face. It was just so...illogical. He stood again. He would have to find a way to tell her. He needed to know what would happen. He needed to see how it would effect his visions.

He made his way back to the infirmary. Taking each step carefully so as not to be seen. He didn't need the whispers of the castle to begin with him sneaking into see Catherine in the middle of the night. He creaked open the door slowly and closed it behind him. He looked at her laying there. Watched her chest rise and fall with each breath. There seemed to be pain in her features, even as she slept. He suddenly felt awful at the thought of waking her.

He stared at her a little longer, trying to decide what to do, realizing that waking her in the middle of the night was seeming more and more ridiculous the longer he stood there. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He sat in the chair next to the bed and sighed quietly. It was then he began to have another vision.

 _[A young Henry stormed into his room, Catherine following right after him._

 _"What the hell was that in there? Declaring to the entire court that you would not claim Sebastian out of respect...for me?"_

 _"I thought you would be pleased."_

 _"Why would I be pleased to look like the horrible woman who wouldn't allow a child his father's name. I told you you it was fine with me if you wanted to give him your name. If you don't want to claim your bastard, don't act as though it has anything to do with me."_

 _"But it has everything to do with you. If you had given me a son, perhaps I would be able to declare him a bastard to the world, but as it stands you haven't, and I need to keep my options open. He may very well have to be my heir. It's not my fault your broken." Henry sneered and left the room. Left her standing there, shattered._

 _Bash could feel her pain. For just a moment, he could feel every emotion she was having as if it was his own.]_

When he came out of the vision, a single tear rolled down his cheek. How could his father be so cruel? How could he say something like that to his wife? All these years he thought the only reason he wasn't claimed was because Catherine had forced him not to. That had been what his mother told him. It was all a lie. He started wondering how many other things he'd been lied to about. He laid a hand over hers, careful not to wake her. An urge to kiss her came over him then. He wanted to make the pain in her expression go away. To comfort her and take away the tragedies of her past. The urge was so strong then. He felt like her pain was his as well. He leaned down slowly. Inching closer and closer to her. And suddenly the wave of feeling left him. The connection gone. Some part of him must have still been in the vision and now it had faded. Strangely, the urge to kiss her hadn't left him entirely, only now he was more able to control it. He stood quickly and left, afraid he might act on this feeling. He walked quickly back to his bed. Almost running. He couldn't make out if the visions made him feel this way. Did they still hold him to an extent, or were these genuine feelings. They felt so real, but how could they be? How could he be falling for her? It wasn't possible...unless his vision was true after all. Or was it simply that the thought of what he had seen had been invading his mind for so long that he was making this happen subconsciously.

When he arrived in his room he laid down, but he could not sleep. He stood back up and he pulled the book the druids had given him out of his bag. He sat down by the fire and began to read ferociously. Maybe the book would provide him some of the answers he needed. He read for some time, falling asleep with the book in his hand.

The next morning, Catherine awoke to find Claude in her room. She blinked a few times, not sure she was seeing correctly.

"What are you doing here? Thinking of finishing the job?" she joked. Claude rolled her eyes, but ignored the comment.

"Is it true? Did you really ride out and try to stop the brigade all by yourself?" she asked. Catherine nodded.

"Come to tell me how foolish I was?" she wondered.

"No. I just can't believe you actually did that." Claude said, with almost a look of pride on her face. Catherine was about to respond when a horn sounded.

"A royal visitor?" Claude questioned.

"We couldn't be getting guests for your wedding already." Catherine said. She sat up and tried to stand.

"Are you mad? What are you doing?" Claude asked as she tried to make her stop.

"I'm going to see what is going on, so either help me or get out of my way." she said. Claude quickly helped Catherine dress in the clothes that had been laid out for her and they made their way to the throne room.

When they arrived Charles was seated on the throne, and in front of him stood his older sister and Queen of Spain, Leeza. Catherine could hear them talking as she entered. Bash and Narcisse and many other court residents were there as well. Bash looked her way as she walked past him.

"And what are you intending to do about these infidels terrorizing your country?" Leeza asked.

"I have a plan in place as we speak." He replied.

"And what is this plan of yours?" She pushed condescendingly.

"That is none of your business." Charles replied. "French affairs are not Spain's concern."

"Perhaps I'm only asking as a loving sister." She said with sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Then perhaps you should ask in private without half your house standing behind you." Charles pointed out.

"What on earth is going in here?" Catherine interrupted as she stumbled in.

"Ahh mother. I heard you'd taken a bit of a spill." Leeza snarked.

"A spill?" Catherine asked through gritted teeth.

"Was that your big plan little brother? Having mother do your dirty work for you?" Leeza cracked.

"I did not send her out there." Charles said.

"So what you're saying is you can't even control your own mother. Well how are you supposed to control a whole country?" Leeza continued.

"Enough!" Catherine scolded.

"Oh, mother to the rescue again." Leeza added with a scowl.

Catherine started to step towards her to have words but she stumbled. Bash caught her.

"Perhaps you should go lie down mother." She added. She looked back at Charles. "We can talk more about this later, after I'm settled in."

"Settled in?" He asked.

"Yes. I'll be staying for awhile." She said.

"Awhile?" Catherine wondered, still being steadied by Bash.

"No wonder you can't get anything productive done in this family. You spend all day repeating people." She turned to leave passing Catherine on her way out. "I trust I'll see you later mother" Charles stood after she was gone and stormed passed Catherine as well.

"This is all your fault." He said, and then quickly disappeared around the corner. Bash helped her straighten herself out.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She yanked her arm away from him.

"I'm fine." She spat. She looked around at the room. Everyone was staring at her. "Fine." She added and then walked out with her head held as high as she could, but everyone could see it was an act. Inside she was screaming.


	14. Down On My Head

Catherine stormed back into her own rooms, finally. She wouldn't dare allow herself to spend another night in a cave, in cot, or in any other cold damp hole they could find for her. As if she hadn't enough problems, now her daughter Leeza shows up to cause more. The audacity. Making her own brother look a fool in front of the whole court, making her look weak and useless.

Bash and Claude were the only ones left behind after the throne room cleared. Claude ran to him and hugged him.

"It is good to see a face I can trust around here." she said.

"You have your mother." he said. She rolled her eyes as she let go of him.

"Not entirely sure I can trust her, after all she's done." she told him.

"I can't say I would trust her with just anything, but I'm sure you can at least trust her to keep you safe." he said.

"Since when? The last thing you did before you left here was to warn us about her." Claude reminded him. Bash sighed and shook his head.

"I never meant...I never meant for this. I only meant for you to be aware, not to let her use you, not to treat her like...like nothing. She's your mother." he explained as he looked away.

"What's changed? You tried to kill her. Why do you care?" Claude wondered.

"It's one thing for me to hate her, it's another thing for you to." he said in a flat tone. He looked at her a moment, took a deep breath, and then left. Claude paused a moment to ponder what he said and then yelled after him, without turning.

"That didn't answer my question!"

After Catherine had cooled off a bit and gathered her injured pride, she remembered the look in Leeza's eyes. She knew that look. Her daughter was up to something more than just slinging insults. She had no idea what it was, but whatever it was she wasn't going to let her get away with it.

Leeza was watching the servants unpack her things when Catherine burst in, still a bit wobbly from her injuries, but she pushed through it out of anger.

"Why are you here!" Catherine demanded. Leeza looked around at her servants who had stopped all they were doing when Catherine shouted.

"Leave us." she told them. They all dispersed, bowing as they left the room. "How dare you burst into my chambers that way."

"How dare I...you didn't mind bursting into the throne room, insulting the king and the entire court. So again I ask, why are you here?" Catherine persisted.

"To attend my little sister's wedding of course." she said.

"We both know you could give a rats behind about your sister's wedding." Catherine spat.

"Well, that's true...unless..." she began.

"And there it is...unless what?" Catherine wondered through gritted teeth.

"Unless it were a different groom." she said.

"And what exactly is wrong with the Duke of Lorraine? He's a perfectly good match." Catherine told her.

"Perfectly good isn't enough, she needs to marry someone with more power. Someone who can help the Valois rise brighter and stronger. Not just someone...perfectly good." Leeza explained.

"He's a Duke. He's one of the wealthiest men in..." Catherine began.

"I said more power, not more money." she interrupted.

"Money is power!" Catherine bellowed.

"Not on it's own, you need to know how to use it." she clarified.

"And who, may I ask, in your opinion, has more power than the Duke of Lorraine?" she inquired.

"The Duke of Guise." she revealed.

"You want her to marry Martel?" Catherine shook her head. "No. I won't allow it. My daughter will never marry that...filth."

"Yes, yes. We all know how you hate the de Guise. But it's high time you put aside your distaste of them." Leeza said.

"This is not only about my personal feelings toward them. Martel is not fit to marry Claude. She will marry someone else...anyone else." Catherine said.

"How is he not fit? He's the from one of the most powerful houses in France." Leeza asked. Catherine pursed her lips.

"I cannot prove it, but he is a murderer. I don't have the evidence, but I know it's true." she told her.

"And who is it you believe he murdered?" Leeza wondered.

"Why does that matter? A killer is a killer. And I'm not letting Claude marry a killer." Catherine said.

"Find me some proof...or she will marry who I tell her to marry." Leeza said.

"You have no right to tell her anything. She's my daughter. I decide..." Catherine started.

"You decide nothing, your king decides who his sister marries. And he will do as I ask, or he will have Spain to deal with." Leeza informed as she opened the door and ushered Catherine out. "You can go now mother, you really should get some rest."Catherine stormed out. She knew this was not a game she could play at face value. Leeza held the cards. She needed to find her tell, and make her fold. There was a bigger picture here.

When she got back to her room Bash was waiting for her.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked. He closed the door behind her.

"I saw the fire again." he said quietly.

"And..." she urged him to say more.

"I saw. I saw Martel. He was setting the fire." Bash said. Catherine sat.

"Then there's only one way to fix this, Martel need to die." she said.

"We can't just murder him for something he hasn't actually done yet. I don't even know if what i saw is..." he started.

"It doesn't matter." she stopped him. "He murdered Leith. I don't have the proof, but I know that he did. I never told Claude I suspected him, because I wasn't sure of what she would do...If he killed him, there's no telling what else he would do. We cannot take a chance after that vision...Especially not now that Leeza want's him to marry Claude."

"What?" He asked in shock. She nodded.

"And I can't stop it. I can't stop Spain from retaliating if we decline. There is only one way." she said. "Now you understand? This is how I make all my decisions, without a choice. My hands are tied. Will I have your help?"

"I will help you." he said. "I won't let that man lay a hand on Claude. I promise."


	15. Wicked Game

**_**[okay so I know this took forver and I thank eveyone who waited patiently and I promise I will not stop writting this fic until it's done, no matter how long it takes.]**_**

* * *

Catherine was pacing her room now. Bash watching as she walked back and fourth.

"There must be a way to get rid of him without Leeza immediately knowing it was me...ahhh, why are the Guises a constant thorn in my side?" she cmplained.

"Calm down and sit so you can think straight." he said, trying to usher her toward a chair.

"Nonsense. I do my best thinking while angry." she explained.

"That explains so much." he said with the tiniest hint of humor. "Come on, sit." She finally did, only she sat on the bed instead of the chair he'd tried to usher her to.

"They hate me. They all hate me. My children loath the site of me. How am I supposed to help them if they hate me?" she said in exasperation.

"I'm sure they don't actually hate you. They are just upset with you. Once we figure this out, I'm sure they are going to forgive you." he said as he sat next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He suddenly had another vision. A new one this time.

 _[He was lying in his old bed. He couldn't have been more than six years old. He looked terrible. He barely remembered this. He had been deathly ill as a child he knew, but he'd had such high fevers he hadn't remembered much of what had actually happenend during that time. The doctors were hovering about him. He heard one say lowly 'nothing left for us to do' another, 'i doubt he will make it' and 'what shall we tell the king?' He was barely concious. It was odd looking down at himself like this. Not just because he was sick, but because it was the first time he was outside of his own body in a vision. He watched as the doctors all sighed and left the room one at a time. After a moment, when the doctors were all surely gone, the door creaked open carefully again. Surprisingly, it was Catherine who entered the room._ _She actually looked upset. She slowly sauntered over to his bedside, checking over her shoulder several times to be sure no one else was coming. She sat down on he chair beside the bed and looked him over...then something strange happened...she started to cry._

 _"I am so sorry." she said as she smoothed his hair back a bit. "This is all my fault." 'Her fault?' Bash wondered. How could his illness be her fault? Had she poisoned him somehow? Poisoning a child seemed low even for Catherine. She wouldn't...would she? "When I said I wished you dead I never meant for this. I take it back. Please, just don't die." she said. She looked up as if speaking to God himself. "Please, he's just a child. It isn't his fault, don't take my vengeance out on him."]_

...Bash snapped out of it then. When his eyes finally refocused, the first thing he say was Catherine's worried face once more.

"Are you alright? Was it another vision? It seemed so much worse than the others. What happened?" she asked, looking him over.

"I'm...I'm...fine. It was nothing." he said.

"Another one of those personal visions again was it?" she said getting annoyed and standing back up, as she bagan to pace once more.

"Catherine please, I swear it really isn't important. Please don't be upset. I just..." he bgan as he stood and reached for her arm. The moment he made contact however, he got shot into another vision...that vision...you know which one. Kissing, touching...everything. He pulled back out of it and she was staring at him, still annoyed.

"Yes, I'm sure it wasn't important at all." she said with sarcasm. She could tell by his reactions that these last few visions were stronger, different. And they were. He finally knew now what he should do. She started to walk away from him again.

"Please wait." he said. She stopped and looked back.

"Why? Just so you can lie to me some more. Keep whatever secret your keeping from me, which contrary to what you say, is obviously about me since you can't even look me in the eye afterwards." she asked.

"No...I" he started as he moved closer.

"Then tell me. Tell me what it is your seeing that you don't want to tell me about." she demanded, softly. He looked into her eyes and suddenly he realized, she had been utterly guilt ridden in his vision. She begged God not to let him die. She felt sorrow over nothing but some hurtful words that she somehow blamed herself for...sorrow his mother never felt. She'd had no guilt over murdering innocent children, but here was Catherine, sorry for simply saying terrible words, words she hadn't even meant. She had never blamed him fo his moher's treachery. He knew now that he could truly and honestly forgive her.

"I saw this..." he said as he placed a hand on her cheek, praying he wan't making a huge mistake. He leaned in very slowly, just in case she wanted to stop him. His lips grazed across hers lightly at first. She didn't move. There was no protest so he pressed harder, deepeming the kiss. It took a moment, but she started to respond. She...she was kissing him back. His hand found it's way to the nape of her neck, pulling her closer. He felt an arm snake up around his back and his tongue came out to request entry. Entry that was granted immediately. The intesity grew quickly and they pulled apart for air. They looked at each other a moment.

"I..I don't want you to think I only...I mean, I didn't kiss you just because of the vision...I..." he started. She cut him off with another kiss. They started migrating toward the bed and fell onto it when they made contact.

"Are you sure, I mean we are...well us and..." he started.

"Are you sure?" she replied.

"I'm sure that I don't want to stop." he said. And so they didn't.

* * *

 ** _ **Yes, I know that is a cruel place to leave off...sorry.**_**


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